"We came out a little frightened at the big crowd--it's unreal," Cairo coach Larry Baldwin said. "My kids were a little overwhelmed by it.

"But in the second half, we played like I knew we could."

Cairo opened the fourth quarter with a 14-4 run, highlighted by Mackins' one-handed slam. Mackins and Williams combined for eight points during the surge and Williams added a showy dunk. Lisle trailed 61-43 with 3 minutes 50 seconds left.

Pierre Parker led Lisle (20-14) with 21 points and 13 rebounds in the Lions' first appearance in the Elite Eight. But Parker hit just 8-of-26 shots from the field, including 2-of-10 from three-point range.

Did the Pilots' tall front line bother him?

"It's just in your head," Parker said. "Sometimes people miss shots. It felt bad [in the fourth quarter]. They were going on their fast break two at a time."

Mt. Carroll (31-1), whose only loss was to East Chicago (Ind.) Central, flourishes in an up-tempo game, often getting run-outs after made baskets.

The Hawks had a little too much firepower for Auburn (26-5) with the 6-5 Haas, Delp, 6-7 Brett Yochem, who had with 11 points and 11 rebounds and point guard Devon Schneider, who contributed 10 points and eight assists. Bryon Graven scored 24 points for Auburn.

Making the most of its first state finals appearance in 92 years, Mt. Carroll made 8-of-13 from three-point range .